[Gift] Summer Festivities: Searching for Seawater

The fair had recently come to Burrowgatory, the bright pinions on top of its tents snapping in the air no matter what the day’s weather. With it came the smell of sweet treats and the laughter of many Succubuns enjoying festivities. Every other year Diana had avoided the area, not being a particularly strong fan of most sweets. But this year… Oh, this year was different. There were stories of Burrowgatory Famous Sea Salt Mochi from one of the small stands at this particular fair; and she couldn’t quite resist the call of her favorite treat - the only sweet that could break through her general distaste. So cautiously, the finned Gluttony-Bun approached the front gates with her Aqous Ribbow, Wallow, in tow. 

She nearly gagged as the cloyingly sweet smell of funnel cake assaulted her sensitive nose; but Wallow swirling around her hooves kept her grounded and stable. Picking up her little companion she held her close and hummed, quickly moving away from the food booths. Word around her sector of Burrowgatory said that the Sea Salt Mochi was hidden somewhere within the game booths. So that’s immediately the direction she headed: happy to be putting distance between herself and the sweets which would only ruin her appetite (not that she’d tell anyone else that). 

Wallow hummed and chirped at some of the more colorful games as they passed, and Diana almost stopped a few times just to play them for her sweetheart imp but thought the best of it. Right now she was on the hunt. However, that hunt was soon disrupted by an energetic Pride-Bun made of glowing star motes and glass.

“Diana!” The familiar voice called to her. Blinking in surprise, she turned to find Super running toward her. 

“Super.” She greeted the smaller Doll , a small smile creeping onto her painted lips. 

“You came!” The ram horned ‘girl’ spun happily. “I thought you said you had no interest in the fair?!” 

“I don’t really.” She replied, nearly laughing goodnaturedly at Super’s confused look. “I heard that there was Burrowgatory-wide Famous Sea Salt Mochi hidden somewhere in here, and I couldn’t resist that. The rest of the fair though…” She trailed off with meaning in her silence. 

“Oh.” Super seemed a bit disappointed for a moment, then she perked up a sly look forming on her features. “Well, I haven’t found it yet; but I’m always down for an adventure! So let’s go!” She grabbed Diana’s hand and began to run through the fair. The larger Doll nearly squeaked in surprise, but her hooves luckily caught her easily and Wallow wasn’t far behind despite their surprising speed weaving through the booths. The next few hours became a whirl of different games and laughter as Super spurred Diana into abandoning her usual “formal” demeanor and trying a few of the fair games since, in her words, “who knows maybe that famous mochi is a prize for one of the games!”. And it turned out she was absolutely correct. 

It was at an oddly configured game of “Saltwater Pong” Booth fashioned partially after the human game “Beer Pong '' that she found it. Where the human equivalent had your opponent chugging the cup that you got your pingpong into, this one made you gargle the saltwater then try to spit as much as possible into a cup located a good two feet away. If you could fill the cup to the marked line before running out of ping pong balls you won. Most of the Buns Diana watched try the game couldn’t handle the salt for long enough to make it; but she knew that it would be a breeze for her. 

As she gargled her first cup, the indulgent taste of sodium filled her mouth and she could almost smell the ocean filling her nose. It took her a few cups to get the hang of getting the water into the cup; but by the third cup, most of the saltwater she had gargled made it in. There was still one ping pong ball clutched in her hand when the water passed the fill line and the stand attendant rang the bell. 

“And we have a winner!” They announced with a big grin. “In fact, I believe you’ll be our last winner as I only have one more package of our prize left.” They held out a carefully wrapped box. “Congratulations. For our Sea Salt Mochi’s full effect I would suggest clearing your palette of the saltwater taste from our game first. We hope you have a wonderful rest of the fair.” 

Shell-shocked, Diana simply stood there staring at the attendant for a moment. It was only when Super threw her arms around her exclaiming, “You did it!”, that she snapped out of it. 

“Thank you..” She said simply and tucked the Sea Salt Mochi away for the perfect end of her night, hardly paying Super any attention for another few moments before turning to her and smiling back. The glowing Bun was seemingly even more excited for Diana’a victory that she was herself; but Diana knew it was just Super’s way of showing her support. So instead of snipping back as she would have in the early days of their friendship, she just laughed a bit and hummed in contentment. “I think this deserves some celebration don’t you?” Super nodded enthusiastically, eyes twinkling. “How about we drop by that Shio-Ramen stand that I’ve been meaning to show you?”